Cease-trade order slapped on 3 China-based firms

Three financial companies, all based in China, have been told they cannot operate in Saskatchewan, following complaints from the public.

Ocean International Ltd., Wealth Capital Corp. and Manhattan Capital Corp. are under a cease-trade order. None of the companies is registered with the Saskatchewan Financial Services Commission.

Ed Rodonets, the commission's deputy director, said his office recently started getting complaints about the companies cold-calling people and urging them to invest in stocks or gold.

"These companies will blitz an area, and it appears that they seem to be concentrating on Saskatchewan here for the last week, and so we want to get the word out quickly," he told CBC News on Monday.

Rodonets warned investors to be careful when dealing with companies they have never heard of.

"Very often these are high-pressure, limited-time opportunities where there's potential for really high return, which is attractive for the investors, [and] low risk. The salespeople are very persuasive on this," he said.